Chapter 137
[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]
Chapter 137: Diary of a Wanderer (10)
“Yeongtae, what’s going on?”
「Hmm?」
The moment Yeongwoo and Kim Younghyeom were both startled, Yeongwoo’s ‘friends’ landed, scattering dust in the air.
Koo-oo-oo-oo-ong!
And even before the dust settled.
Hwae-aeak!
Yeongtae jumped out from the dust cloud.
[Yeongwoo07’s Friend – Hong Yeongtae]
Hoo-woooook!
A heavy presence, enough to make the Strongest Swords in the region involuntarily step back, emanated, and Yeongtae rushed straight to Kim Younghyeom through the open path.
「Yaaaaah!」
Yeongtae’s movement was so lightning-fast that even Yeongwoo couldn’t stop him this time.
Ssweaaaat!
It was the moment when a hand dagger penetrated into the body of a significant portion of the current North-South Allied Forces.
「This brat.」
Half surprise, half rage.
Kim Younghyeom emitted his specialty, a strong gust, with a complex expression, but.
「You’re dead!」
Yeongtae casually countered his restraint with his body and swung his fingernails.
“That lunatic.”
Upon seeing this, Yeongwoo immediately tried to rush towards Yeongtae but hesitated upon witnessing the following scene.
Kwaaaak!
Kim Younghyeom, facing Yeongtae’s nail attack, raised his upper body and grabbed the opponent’s hand with his forepaws.
「E, eek...!」
「This kid, why is he so strong?」
Surprisingly, a power struggle was established.
No, it was astonishing that even after 4 days of reinforcement, Kim Younghyeom, a fourth-day mutant, was not able to overwhelm Yeongtae.
‘No way.’
Yeongwoo realized something as he watched.
He had just been vaguely aware of it until now, but now it was certain.
‘Even the friends are getting stronger.’
As the days passed, it was clear that the friends in the whistle were also being reinforced.
Otherwise, how could Yeongtae, who was a second-day mutant, confront Kim Younghyeom like that?
「Kkuung...!」
However, it seemed that they couldn’t completely dominate the current fourth-day mutant, as a grunt escaped from Yeongtae’s mouth shortly after.
Then.
「Oh, I’m really sorry.」
A white lump appeared behind Yeongtae and attempted to punch Kim Younghyeom’s face like a mountain.
Boo-woooook!
It was none other than the former VCsoft chairman, Kim Taejoon.
[Yeongwoo07’s Friend – Kim Taejoon]
‘Damn, that punch is too strong!’
Yeongwoo, sensing that Kim Taejoon’s attack was unusual, immediately shouted while pulling out the ‘Legacy of the Dragon’.
“Stop...! He’s our guest!”
At that moment, Kim Taejoon, who had been about to extend his fist right in front of the White Tiger’s crown, widened his eyes and stopped moving.
「He’s a guest?」
Kim Taejoon, who had a momentarily dazed expression, quickly turned to Yeongtae with a shocked face.
Huh.
To everyone’s surprise, Yeongtae, who had been holding both of the White Tiger’s hind legs, trembled slightly with his long muzzle.
「Huh...? This is our guest?」
As if the expression ‘this’ was bothering him, Kim Younghyeom pressed down on Yeongtae when he felt his strength draining away.
*Creak!*
Thunderous sounds burst from Kim Younghyeom’s throat in anger.
However, since he hadn’t actually been hit, Kim Younghyeom refrained from attacking Yeongtae.
「You, these kids. What’s your identity?」
As he growled, his beard trembling, Kim Taejoon prostrated himself on the ground in apology.
「I’m sorry, we didn’t recognize you.」
Upon this, Yeongwoo explained to Younghyeom instead of the two.
“They met as mutants like generals, shook hands with me, and became friends. Today, it seems we misunderstood them a bit hastily.”
「Friends...?」
“...”
Then Jo Sunghoo opened his eyes again.
“The current significance of Pyongyang’s Strongest Sword’s existence is the assassination of the General Secretary. Most people are waiting for that.”
The assassination of the General Secretary.
It was said that once Comrade Kim Jong-un returned, they would kill him.
“But if you end up killing the Pyongyang Strongest Swords before the showdown...”
“...”
“But if you end up killing the Pyongyang’s Strongest Sword before the showdown...”
“...”
“Unfortunately, if that really happens... wouldn’t it be your responsibility to support his legacy, even if not necessarily as compatriots? I consider it a request you could fulfill even if you’re not a comrade.”
Kim Jong-un, before being a dictator of North Korea, is a figure whose very existence is close to evil.
So if the Pyongyang’s Strongest Sword were to be broken, it would be a request to Yeongwoo to fulfill the great task in his place.
“Are you already leaving your will?”
Yeongwoo asked without giving a clear answer, and Jo Sunghoo wrinkled his nose.
“You know full well that I’m going to die.”
“...”
As Jo Sunghoo said, right now, Yeongwoo’s eyes revealed countless marks of death that the Joseon Swordsmanship had raised.
Various vital points scattered throughout the opponent’s body.
If Yeongwoo were to initiate an attack based on Joseon Swordsmanship right now, Jo Sunghoo wouldn’t be able to withstand a single strike.
“Well, before I die, let me see it once. Let’s see what our country’s greatest swordsmanship is like.”
Jo Sunghoo said this while adjusting his grip on the sword, and Yeongwoo also raised the tip of his sword diagonally, assuming an attacking stance.
Swoo.
Unlike various swordsmanship techniques from the South, including Gyeongbuk, which Yeongwoo had directly experienced before, Joseon Swordsmanship’s basic posture was to turn the body to the side and extend the blade forward.
It was similar to fencing.
‘It’s an incredibly aggressive swordsmanship.’
Turning the body to the side reduced the exposed body area to the opponent in front, but in fact, this was to minimize the cues for the attack and make it difficult to recognize the preliminary movements.
Reducing the area vulnerable to being hit was just an added bonus.
In other words, Joseon Swordsmanship was a swordsmanship that considered attack as the best defense.
As Yeongwoo focused on one of the many marks visible to him, Jo Sunghoo, who recognized it, smiled.
“Is that where the ‘kill’ mark is?”
He, like Yeongwoo, was using a swordsmanship developed on the Korean Peninsula, so he was well aware of the significance of the marks.
―Kill
Yeongwoo also knew that the opponent was tracking his gaze, but even so, he continued the attack as it was.
Swhiit!
He pushed the tip of the sword, which had been extended diagonally towards the opponent, deeply forward in a frontal thrust.
Swhiit!
As the opponent thrusts forward with the sword extended diagonally towards him, there’s something peculiar about the attack.
Instead of the flat side of the blade facing upwards, it’s oriented sideways, giving it a slight rotational force.
Tsuaat!
Clearly anticipating the attack, Jo Sunghoo extended his sword to block the trajectory, but Yeongwoo’s blade seems to have been waiting for this, as it wrapped around the opponent’s sword, redirecting its direction.
Kwikigik!
It was an attack originally intended to change the point of impact using the opponent’s counterattack.
“...!”
Yeongwoo’s blade, penetrating through the gap between Jo Sunghoo’s sword, unmistakably pierced through the opponent’s sternum.
“Crack!”
Shinuiju’s Strongest Sword Jo Sunghoo, suddenly hit with a strong impact, caused his collarbone to shake violently.
Then, he opened his mouth laboriously, revealing teeth stained with blood.
“Indeed, Joseon... it’s the best swordsmanship.”
Upon hearing this, Yeongwoo swiftly withdrew his blade from the opponent’s chest and immediately whirled around, swinging the sword diagonally.
Ssuaeaack!
As if sketching a wedge pattern in the air, Jo Sunghoo’s head, Shinuiju’s Strongest Sword, created a small shadow as it fell away from his body.
[Quest] “Headhunter”
[Mission] Sever 6/7 of the Strongest Sword’s necks.
[Reward] 7 million karma
[Special] You must disclose the support of the Dogo in this mission.
‘Now, just one more.’
As Yeongwoo observed the updated and ruthlessly renewed status of “Headhunter,” a new quest appears beneath it.
[Quest] “Will of the Dead”
[Mission] Assassinate Kim Jong-un.
[Reward] Dogo special equipment
[Special] You must disclose the support of the Dogo in this mission.
[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]